I am one of those people who hunts down brown bananas like it’s her job. I look for brown spottiness and mushiness, to me this is a positive trait in a banana because it means delicious banana-y baked goods. Once a banana has reached the dark brown-black mushiness I peel it, ziplock bag it, and freeze it. Once that bag has reached three or four mushy disgusting brown bananas… it is time for some serious banana bread making.

People are very protective of their banana bread recipes. My roommate Stef always recounts the sad tale of the recipe lost in the family move… that has yet to be replaced or recreated. Whenever I make banana bread in the apartment this story comes up again, and we always shed a tear over the bread that will never reach our lips. This particular recipe I am sharing with all of you has been in my family since the age of 10. It was published in our Otsego elementary school cookbook submitted by Pamela McQuade, a good friend of my brothers. To this day we still refer to it as McQuade Banana Bread.